Jeff Miller is a man on a mission: He is dedicated to being an effective voice for endangered species and preserving the Northern California habitats they depend on for survival. He currently pursues this mission as founding director of the Alameda Creek Alliance and as a conservation advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity.

After months of protests from local environmental activists and some government officials, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is reopening the public comment period for part of the controversial Niles Canyon Improvement Safety Project on Highway 84 east of Fremont. Comments will now be taken through July 7.

Things are looking up for the steelhead trout of Alameda Creek. A revised plan to replace the Calaveras Dam includes several features that will benefit the federally threatened fish. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) approved the project on January 27, 2011, ending years of discussion with conservation groups and federal agencies.

State Route 84 twists and turns along Alameda Creek through Niles Canyon between Fremont and Sunol. An effort by Caltrans to make the road safer has hit a roadblock: Environmental groups, local citizens, and the City of Fremont claim that widening and straightening the road will simply encourage drivers to go faster while harming a creek that has been the focus of steelhead trout restoration efforts.

Sarah Kupferberg, a research scientist at UC Berkeley, is fascinated by foothill yellow-legged frogs, once common but now scarce in Alameda Creek. The SF Public Utilities Commission is rebuilding the Calavares Dam, and the way that dam gets managed may well determine the fate of these rare frogs.

A long-running battle over a quarry proposed for Apperson Ridge adjacent to Sunol Regional Wilderness reached a new chapter last month when two environmental groups struck a deal with the quarry operator. The deal includes major funding for habitat protection and other concessions, but also clears the way for quarrying in an area that's important habitat for tule elk and other species.